


Just Won't Do

by Bibibinch (BiancaBibi)



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: A lot of them - Freeform, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Deceit | Janus Sanders is a Good Friend, Deceit | Janus Sanders is a Sweetheart, Janus is utimate mom, Mental Breakdown, This is platonic but, can be considered romantic, he deserves to be cared for too, lotsa angst but it's okay janus is here to help, this is for a valentine's gift exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 11:00:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29434986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BiancaBibi/pseuds/Bibibinch
Summary: Janus has acute mom senses and tries to help the sides whenever they feel low. Or 5 times Janus cared for the others and 1 time he was taken care of.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders & Everyone, Deceit | Janus Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders & Thomas Sanders
Comments: 8
Kudos: 68





	Just Won't Do

**Author's Note:**

> Virgil's happens at the very beginning of the series  
> Roman's happens after CLBG  
> Patton's happens after SvS  
> Remus' happens after DWIT  
> Logan's happens after SVS Redux
> 
> I hope you enjoy!!! This is a Valentine's gift for Shadow on twt!

Janus was awaken by the sound of a door slamming open.

He didn’t think much of it at first, imagining Remus was about to go on one of his midnight adventures. But then he heard crying.

Janus shot up, recognizing Virgil’s wails. He heard the other side coming closer to his room, Janus’ hand on the doorknob, ready to let him in. But Virgil walked past, his jagged breaths disappearing down the stairs.

Janus frowned. _That just won’t do._ He snapped into his normal clothes, leaving his pajamas behind, and made his way downstairs.

Virgil was sitting on the floor, his back pressed against the door leading to the Light Sides’ commons (Janus winced involuntarily), hiding his head behind his knees. His chest was moving jaggedly, and Janus could hear him breathing with difficulty.

“Virgil?” He called, and Virgil’s head shot up.

“I-I’m sorry. Please, just go to sleep, please, I’m sorry-” He rambled. Janus frowned, walking towards him. Virgil’s arms shot forwards, covering his face. “Don’t touch me!” He shouted.

Janus put his arms up in a nonthreatening fashion. “Hey, I won’t. I’m not doing anything you’re uncomfortable with, Virgil. But you have to breathe, okay? Come one” He sat down on the floor, five feet away from Virgil. “You know the pattern. In for four, hold for seven, out for eight. Come on, I’ll walk you through it”

Janus spent the next ten minutes counting, helping Virgil regain control of his breathing. When he could finally breathe normally, they fell into an uncomfortable silence.

“Virgil?” Janus spoke up hesitantly. “I… I think you should tell me about it”

Virgil sighed, shaking his head. “I can’t keep doing this Jan. I can’t stay here” His voice was wobbly, like he was trying to hold tears.

Janus’ heart shattered.

“You want to leave?” He whispered, and he realized he probably sounded miserable.

Virgil winced. “I- It’s stupid, never mind. I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad” He mumbled.

“Virgil, I-” Janus cut himself, swallowing.

He what?

Janus was in control. He made the final decision. Virgil didn’t have to go anywhere.

He didn’t want Virgil to go anywhere.

If Virgil left, Remus would never forgive Janus. Hell, Janus would never forgive himself. He didn’t want Virgil to go. He didn’t  _want_ him to go.

But Virgil wasn’t happy here. He was hurting. Janus didn’t want him to be in pain.

“Okay. I- okay. Come on” He said, standing up.

“I- what?” Virgil looked up at him, wiping his cheeks dry.

“Look, Virge, I…” Janus sighed, running a hand through his hair. “If- If this is what you want, then I won’t stop you. Just- go. I’ll send your things over later” He said. He turned around, unable to watch.

A part of him expected Virgil to say something. To change his mind. To hug him, perhaps.

Janus heard the door close.

He cried.

++++

It wasn’t often Janus went into the light side of the mind palace. He wasn’t exactly welcome  here, but since he’d revealed himself to Thomas, his very existence wasn’t rejected by the realm anymore, which came in handy whenever he needed to use the Imagination. Remus’ side was wonderful, but it didn’t give him much space  to work without getting his head bit off, and Roman was kind enough to let him into his side a couple of times a year.

Janus walked up the stairs, ignoring Patton’s confused look,  and knocked  on Roman’s door. “Oh, your Majesty!” He called, with syrupy sweet voice.

No answer came.

Janus frowned. That always worked. Why wouldn’t it now?

“He’s in the Imagination, I believe”

Janus turned and saw Logan coming out of his own room. “Ah, thank you. Well, if you don’t mind, I’m going to go look for him”

Logan shrugged, walking down the stairs without looking at him, and Janus took that as a yes.

Janus wondered around the Imagination for nearly half an hour before he found an old theater Roman frequented. He supposed he could’ve just done his errands and left, but he was curious as to why the prince had left his room so early.

Janus pushed the theater doors open, hearing a distant voice singing a song he wasn’t familiar with. He walked into the room, sitting in one of the rows farther away from the stage so Roman wouldn’t spot him among the empty seats.

Roman’s voice was slightly choked off. He seemed to be singing a happy tune, but his voice was desperate, and he was on the verge of tears. One of his hands was grabbing onto the hem of his shirt, like he was trying to breathe, and the other one was a fist against his side. His eyes were closed, and he had a painful expression, but he wouldn’t stop singing.

It hurt to watch, but Janus found himself stuck in his seat, unable to move. He wanted to call out to him, but was afraid of interrupting.

As the song ended, Roman caved into himself, swinging dangerously towards the edge of the stage, sobbing.

_Well that won’t do._ Janus forced himself to move, running down the rows of seats towards the stage, arriving just in time to catch Roman before he fell.

“Roman, dear, that was not dangerous _at all_ , _please_ do it again” He said, but Roman didn’t answer, simply clinging to his coat and crying. “Ah, okay. Let’s get you out of this crowd, you beautiful diva” He muttered, sinking them out.

They appeared back at Roman’s room. He kept weeping, apparently not registering it was Janus who was with him.  Janus hesitated, before running a hand through his curls. “Hey, it’s okay. It’ll be okay” Roman hugged him harder, and Janus sighed, lying down in Roman’s bed and dragging the prince with him.

“S-sorry for bothering” He heard Roman mutter. Janus shook his head.

“It’s okay. Do you want to talk about it?” He asked.

Roman shrugged. “I just… I want to be good enough. I  _need_ to. But- but I’m so exhausted lately, I can’t do anything the others will approve of”

“I think everything you do is quite wonderful” Janus countered. Roman snorted.

“Don’t flatter me, Deceit” He mumbled.

“I’m not lying” Janus said, wiggling his ungloved hands in front of Roman’s face, making him giggle. “See?”

“Fine, you convinced me” The prince sighed, wiping the remaining tears from his face. “Will you stay for a bit?” He asked.

Janus thought about how mad everyone would be if they caught them.

“Sure” He answered.

++++

A loud bang came from the kitchen.

Janus startled, looking up from his book, and saw Logan do the same. They were sitting on armchairs on opposite sides of the room, so he saw Logan’s expression turn from confused to -dare he say it -annoyed.

“Are you alright, Patton?” He asked to the air.

A strangled ‘fine!’ was replied, just a second too late to seem natural. _Ping._ Janus registered the lie, but Logan simply sighed, pushing his glasses up his nose, and turned back to his own book.

Janus raised a brow, glancing back towards the kitchen.

Was this normal?

Logan was completely focused on his book again already, and Patton was clumsy, but the noise had sounded too aggressive for a kitchen environment (Janus would know- Remus enjoyed cooking, and he made absolutely delicious dishes, but he was still a messy worker).

Sighing, Janus set his book on the coffee table and made his way towards the kitchen.

“Patton?” He called, knocking lightly on the door. Patton, who was kneeling on the floor, turned at the mention, and Janus registered the faint feeling of all the air being sucked away from him, but it was hard to distinguish over the loud ring in his ear because Patton was crying and _something was wrong_.

There were tiny pieces of glass scattered around the floor, cutting into Patton’s bare knees, and there were little cuts all over his hands. His eyes were red and puffy, his glasses crooked, and he was shaking all over, skin pale. He opened his mouth and Janus could already feel a lie coming out of it.

“Don’t lie to me” He cut before Patton had the chance to say anything. Patton let out a whimper, and Janus winced. “I- sorry, that came out wrong” He brushed some of the glass out of the way with his gloved hand, and knelt in front of him.

Patton looked down at his wounded hands, avoiding Janus’ eyes. _Now, that just won’t do._ Janus bit his lip in thought, trying to find a way to get everything under control.

“Are you okay?” He asked. Patton didn’t answer. Janus waited a full minute, but the other side remained quiet and still. “Okay” He said, trying to keep a light tone. “Did something break?” Nothing, for a moment. Then, a nod. “That’s okay” He said. He looked around at the floor, snapping his fingers, and all the glass disappeared. Patton let out a gasp, looking up at him, and Janus smirked lightly. “We _definitely_ want to get hurt while cleaning it” He said. Then, he lifted a hand. “Can I touch you?”

Patton hesitated, but nodded. He cautiously removed his hand from the floor, slipping it into Janus’, and Janus sank them both out.

Patton looked around quizzically as he landed on the soft covers of Janus’ bed. He’d never seen his room, Janus realized, but it was too late to regret it, specially since Patton was still bleeding.

“Wait here” He said. He quickly retreated to the bathroom, looking for the first aid kit. He grabbed it, pulling his gloves off and leaving them in the counter before returning to Patton.

“Give me your hands” He said, gently grabbing Patton’s left hand when he extended them. “This will sting a little” He warned. Patton hummed, and Janus noticed his eyes were glazed over. “Hey, it’s going to be okay” He said, smiling softly. Patton nodded.

Carefully, Janus cleaned the wounds, washing the blood off of Patton’s hands and wrapping the bigger cuts with bandages. Patton didn’t speak through the process, but the silence was comfortable and welcome.

“There we go” He said when he finished, placing Patton’s hands back on his lap. He still looked shaken, but his skin had returned to its natural color, and he wasn’t crying anymore. He looked more exhausted than scared. “Do you want to talk about it?” Janus asked, unsure.

Patton sighed, shaking his head, and Janus nodded. He stood up, taking the first aid kit back to the bathroom and pulling his gloves on.

“You can stay here and take a nap, if you’d like” He said as he walked towards the door. “Or just leave, if you prefer. I _definitely_ want to keep you hostage”

Patton didn’t answer that. Instead, he said:

“You patched me up”

Janus turned to him, rising a brow quizzically. Patton continued. “You- you could’ve snapped your fingers like you did with the glass. But you… you didn’t. You took me here and patched me up and you took your gloves off for me…” He trailed off. “I don’t understand”

Janus sighed. “It’s important to be reminded that there are people willing to take care of you, once in a while” He bit his lip. “At least that’s what I believe” He whispered.

He stepped out of the room when Patton didn’t answer, closing the door behind him.

Patton didn’t leave.

++++

It was late, far too late in Janus’ opinion, when he returned to the dark side commons after another day in the Imagination, doing errands for Thomas’ videos. He ought to have a chat with Logan, he figured. Thomas couldn’t keep working on projects until ungodly hours every night.

He sighed, pulling off his gloves and setting them on the coffee table next to his bowler hat. He stood still for a moment, listening for movement around him, but he didn’t hear anything. Remus must’ve gone to sleep already.

Ever since Virgil had left, it wasn’t like there was a lot of noise at night, anyway.

Janus run a hand through his face, groaning. He wasn’t going to think about that more than strictly necessary. Virgil was happy where he was, and that was that. Janus wasn’t going to force him back if he didn’t want to come.

Janus sighed again, dropping face-front into the sofa. He could sleep here. He was too tired to move to his room, anyway.

Remus would get a kick out of startling him awake in the morning, he thought fondly.

“JJ, are you alright?”

Janus startled, turning his head from where it was smothered against the sofa pillow and looking at Remus quizzically. So much for waiting until morning.

He looked worried, his brows furrowed. He wore a frown instead of his usual grin, and he was fidgeting with his fingers. He’d been quiet when he came. He was only quiet when he was sad.

“I-” Janus cleared his throat. “I’m totally _not_ okay, just tired, why?” He hesitated, then added, “Are _you_ okay?”

Remus’ frown deepened, and he walked towards the couch, lifting Janus’ legs and sitting underneath them. “...I don’t know” He mumbled.

Janus frowned. _Well, that just won’t do_. He slowly sat up, lowering his head to catch Remus’ eyes, and opened his arms in invitation. Remus immediately fell into them, hiding his face on Janus’ chest. Janus adjusted so he was sitting on Remus’ lap instead of across it, and started pushing his fingers gently through Remus’ hair.

“One of those days?” He asked, and Remus nodded. “It’s okay” He murmured against his temple. “You can cry, it’s okay”

Remus did cry. He sobbed, staining Janus’ cape with tears and snot and what looked like blood- he sometimes cried red when he was really upset, Janus remembered. Janus held him, caressing his hair and running a hand up and down his back, murmuring reassurances in his ear.

Remus’ ragged breaths slowed down after a while. He pulled away, red rimmed eyes refusing to meet Janus’ own. “I’m sorry about…” He gestured to Janus’ dirty clothes, grimacing. Janus brushed Remus’ hair out of his face, cupping his cheek in his palm.

“It’s okay” He whispered, impossibly soft.

It was. Janus knew it was hard. He knew Remus struggled, and that it was hard for him to open up, specially since he blamed himself for Virgil leaving. Janus appreciated that Remus came to him asking for help.

He knew how hard it was.

He leaned forward, brushing his lips against Remus’ forehead. “Do you want to go to bed or a distraction?” He asked gently. Remus shook his head, plastering a fake smile on his face.

“It’s okay! You should rest, I’ll be okay-”

“Remus” Janus cut him off. He sighed, grabbing Remus’ hands. “You don’t have to hide it. Not from me” His voice cracked. Both of them ignored it.

Remus’ face dropped and his face scrunched up. He put his arms around Janus’ waist, hugging him tightly once again, but he didn’t cry.

“Okay” He said after a while. “Can I- uh. Can I sleep with you tonight?”

Janus pulled back and smiled softly at him. “Of course”

++++

One of Janus’ favorite places in the Mind Palace was the memory library. There was absolutely everything there, registered in the point of view of each side.

Janus mostly came here for information he found relevant for future videos and debates, but occasionally he caved in and watched some old memories of Virgil living with him and Remus in the dark realm.

He never visited the light side memories unless strictly necessary.

It’s not that he didn’t want to. He was incredibly curious, and he’d love to watch them all, but he knew he wasn’t welcome in there, and he respected that.

However, he needed to find Patton’s memories of a conversation Thomas had had a while ago. So, with Morality’s permission, he made his way to the light part of the library.

He did not expect to find Logan crying on the floor, surrounded by memories.

Janus glanced at the memories. They were all labeled ‘Logan Laughing’, from the point of view of all the sides.

The latest one was dated three years ago.

Janus winced. _That simply wouldn’t do._

He knelt in front of the logical side gently, extending a hand towards him. “Logan, hey, Logan? Come on, let’s get you out of here”

Logan looked up at him through his glasses, tears still flowing. He didn’t speak, but he took Janus’ hand and let himself be pulled into a standing position.

Janus led them to the dark side of the library, and seated Logan in one of the chairs. He sat on the table next to him, and looked down at him calmly. “You’re in a non-judgmental environment. If you want to talk about it, I will listen”

Logan wiped his face clean, and schooled his expression. “There is nothing to talk about. I was simply… doing research”

Janus snorted. “You can’t lie to me, Logan” He said, gently. He nudged Logan’s side with his foot. “I won’t force you to talk, but I believe you know how _terrible_ talking to someone about your personal issues makes you feel”

Logan sighed, looking down at his lap. “It’s not as if it’s of importance” He muttered.

“It matters to me” Janus said. Logan raised a brow at him. “It does” He reinforced.

Logan shrugged. “I find myself… lost. None of the others make an effort to listen to me, and I don’t know why I bother trying. I came here searching for a reason to continue, but… it is evident that reason has vanished” He explained. He fixed his glasses and fidgeted with his tie, avoiding Janus’ gaze.

Janus sighed. “Look, I’m probably the last person you want to talk to about this. Specially since I impersonated you twice and disregarded your feelings. Sorry about that, by the way. It was terribly rude of me” Logan lifted one hand in an it’s-okay gesture. “But you are important, Logan. Thomas would be nothing without you. Look around” Janus gestured at their surroundings. “Half of this library is you. Everything Thomas knows, it’s you. He needs you, and so do the others” He sighed. “I recommend you talk to them about it”

Logan let out a humorless laugh. “Like they would listen”

“If they don’t, I’ll make them” Janus said. “I’m serious. Besides, I bet if you sat them down and told them it was time for a serious conversation, they’d be too scared not to listen to you”

Logan snorted, smiling up at him. “Thank you. I’ll figure something out” He said. Janus nodded.

“I’m sure they’ll understand, Logan. They all love you, and they care about you. Things have just been a bit disastrous lately”

Logan nodded. “They really have been”

++++

It was suffocating.

His skin was too tight, pulling at his insides and making him uncomfortable. He felt hot, terribly hot, but he was shivering.

God, what was happening?

(This wouldn’t do. This wouldn’t do at all.)

He couldn’t breathe. He felt dizzy and tired, and he tried to speak but he made no sounds. It was useless, anyway, he was alone in his room.

If he wasn’t busy trying to breathe, Janus might’ve laughed at the irony of the situation, but his lungs were burning and he wanted to cry more than anything.

He felt a tug on his neck (no god no please not now) and was pulled away from his room.

He landed on Thomas’ couch.

“Hey Jan- Janus? Hey, Janus, are you okay?”

Loud, it was loud. Janus covered his ears, shaking like a leaf. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he flinched away from the touch.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m sorry. I won’t touch you. You think you could look at me?” The voice asked.

Janus shuddered. He took two deep breaths and forced his eyes open, looking up. Thomas stared back at him, smiling gently.

“There you are” He said. “Are you breathing alright?”

Was he? Janus took a moment to just breathe. It hurt a bit, but he didn’t feel like he was running out of air anymore. He nodded slowly, and Thomas’ smile widened.

“Okay. How about we relax for a bit, yeah?” He asked, leaning back in the couch. “Just breathe for a while” Janus tried to object, but Thomas beat him to it. “I can wait, Janus. It’s okay, just take your time”

So they sat in silence. Thomas turned the TV on with low volume for background noise, and sat with him until Janus felt calm again.

Janus wasn’t quite sure how long they spent there, but every once in a while, one of the sides dropped by with a blanket, or cookies, or a book, or even just a small hug.

It felt good to be cared for, Janus realized as Patton dropped a kiss to his temple before sinking out. He felt calm and warm inside. He felt loved. Sighing, he leaned his head against Thomas’ shoulder, staring at the screen where an episode of Steven Universe played.

“Thank you” He whispered to no one in particular. He had a feeling everyone heard him, anyway.


End file.
